My Method for Pyraminx/ Learning?

So if you read my last post, you will know I briefly talked about my Pyraminx solving method, and how it wasn’t the best method for speed solving, but worked alright. So In this blog, I wanted to explain my method, and why I think you should learn it, and then where I think you can go from there. So, for starters, my method is so simple. One of the easiest methods that can ever be taught. It’s based on Paradox Cubing’s tutorial, and is great for any beginner Pyraminx solver. Basically, it is, at its most basic state, just a bunch of sledge hammers over and over again until the puzzle is solved. There is a little more to it, but it is very simple.

                To start, you simply line up the three “corner” type pieces on the correct side, so everything can be oriented correctly. Next, you use the sledge hammer move to insert the 3 edge pieces, to complete the first layer. From there, the top layer is oriented in one of 6 possible cases, so 5 algorithms (plus the solved state) complete the puzzle, minus the tips, which of course are easy to fix.

                There are a couple of reasons I wanted to share his method with everyone. For one, it’s just super easy. If you can solve a Rubik’s Cube, even just with the most beginner method, this method is perfectly attainable. Another reason I wanted to share it, is because using this simple method, I averaged 9 seconds at my last competition, which is decently fast. The main reason for this is because even using such a simple method, using some look ahead tactics and first layer tricks I learned from 3x3, it was not too much work to make a beginner method into a decently effective solving strategy. This is why I have “Learning?” in the title, because I am seeing the effects that my practice in other events. Now I don’t mean to brag, I am still not anywhere near competition winning times, but It does show what happens when you practice, and how effective things in one scenario can be in another.

                So what do I suggest you do? First, I would make sure you practice. I try to do so as much as possible, and even though it seems like sometimes I don’t learn anything, I am slowly absorbing information, which is very useful.  Then, after you have a bit of knowledge under your belt, for fun, pick up a small cuboid, or maybe an interesting shape mod, or maybe just another competition legal puzzle, and see what fun you can have, solving it in weird ways, or finding cool little tricks to make a layer or solve parity. I find it so satisfying to watch my skills have an application like this, and I think you might as well, so just give it a try, and most of all, just try to make cubing a little more enjoyable, because its one of the coolest things I think you can do.

Paradox Cubing's video

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP8uNejf3y8

Winter Break Update

Well I don’t know about the rest of my readers, but I am pretty excited for the holiday time! I finally get a break from school and some time to practice cubing. And since Christmas is right around the corner as well, I wanted to talk about some events I might want to get into. Then, after Christmas, I’m going to do a full review on the puzzles I get, and hopefully learn a few methods to different puzzles.

                So to start, I’m wondering if I should get into 4x4. It’s kind of the next step in competing; I have already gotten decent in 3x3, 2x2, and Pyraminx, but I don’t want to just stay in those. I want to keep adding puzzles to my repertoire, and 4x4 really seems to be calling my name. The reason is that both the aolong and the V2 were amazing, and the Aosu is reviewed as the best 4x4 of all time, which makes me think I will have a good time learning the method. I’m thinking I will learn Yao, because even though it is a little bit more complicated, it seems to be a very good method and all the main speedcubers use it.

                Besides that, I think the best thing I can over break and continuing into the New Year is continuing on learning OLL’s, because I can’t wait to get sub 10 and be really competitive. Now I fully understand full OLL isn’t the only thing that makes someone fast, but it is still very necessary in speedcubing, and I think it’s a very reasonable thing I should try for. After that, I’m not sure what I want to focus on. I could learn some algs for COLL, as that might help with my times for 3x3, but I think my next best practice option would be working on a new Pyraminx method. The current method I know is good, but won’t ever win me a competition, so I will have to get much better in order to have a fighting chance. So that’s my update for now, thanks!

Progress Plus a Thank You

Hi everyone! I had a little time over the weekend and I started learning a few of the OLL’s. Now, this in itself is not overly special, because so many people have learned much more than that, but it’s really cool for me because it’s the next step on my cubing journey and I can’t wait to continue going and see how far I get to go. In addition to that, I also achieved my new personal best time of 11.32 seconds on 3x3. Again, mildly impressive to those who have been doing this for a while, but I am amazed at my own improvement and so happy to see my progress.

Now on to the purpose of this blog, I wanted to give a big thank you to Anthony Brooks. For any of you that have read my blog for a while, you know that over the summer I really got in to speedcubing and went on a trip where I met Anthony at the Liberty Science center. I had been excited to go for months and thought I was just going to have a fun time. But meeting Anthony was so much more than I had ever anticipated. Watching someone solve a cube in 8 seconds flat in front of your face is just a little to amazing not to have a small freak out. It was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. But not only was he really good, Anthony was also a really nice guy to learn from and gave me quite a few useful tidbits on cubing. Then, some of you will know the story, I got really inspired to speedcube, learned 2 look OLL and PLL in two weeks while touring Europe, and by the time I touched down in America again, I had learned over 10 algorithms and received a personal best and my first sub 20 with a 19.87.

So with all the inspiration, I think it’s fair I give Anthony Brooks a big thank you for motivating me. I’m not sure if I ever would have gotten into speedcubing hard core unless I met him, but I did and I know my life has been changed for the better. So any time you are in Texas or a competition he might be at, make sure you talk to him to see what I’m talking about. Thanks Anthony!

Moyu Quality Control?

This post is more of just an idea to maybe improve something in the future. So here we go. You might occasionally hear about higher order cubes that have the single bad piece or unusually placed sticker, that makes the cube bad until you fix it. This may be a slight annoyance, but it is usually fixed pretty easily and I would only call it an inconvenience. However, recently Moyu has had a few blunders which weren’t just one or two bad pieces on the off puzzle, but defects effecting an entire batch or series of cubes. Of course everyone knows about the most recent incident, in which the Aolong V2 had a bad first batch, with very scratchy, dry and slow plastic. I have to commend them as they fixed the problem as soon as it became apparent, but I still think it could have been avoided. Another issue I have heard of as of “recent” is the Aosu 4x4, which evidently had some deformed center pieces that made for an awful puzzle. This is definitely not a huge deal, but it was more than just one or two people who had an issue so I figured it was worth noting.

Now at the beginning of this post, you probably thought I was going to bust some major stuff out on Moyu, things I had heard and had been compiling for years to give a scathing review of Moyu, that would put them out of business for good. No. you see, I actually like Moyu, it’s my favorite cubing brand and they make some of my favorite puzzles. This post is just to say, hey, there is room for improvement! For instance, they could put a tiny bit more money into their quality control department, hire an extra person, and maybe get a few of those extra problems resolved before the cubes hit the stores.

 But one thing I think would be really beneficial for Moyu is just to slow their roll a bit. In the last year, they have released so many cubes I didn’t bother to even find a number, but among them is the entire “Ao” series, which most of which were top notch cubes, along with the Pyraminx and the Skewb, which from what I have heard, are very good, and I really want to get the Pyraminx, as I think it will easily replace my Shengshou. The point is that they have released so many puzzles, and they only had one big issue, but in addition to that, the also had difficulties with corner twists on the original Aolong and according to Kevin Hayes, whom I would consider an expert in the area, the Moyu 6x6 left much to be desired. If they just slowed down the release of these puzzles a little bit, maybe had some more tests done to see if the 6x6 was a good cube, or if the Aolong was going to be a stable cube, they could have stopped some issues and had a few better products, and definitely would not have had to make a completely new batch of Aolong V2’s. So just a simple idea Moyu, slow it down, get it under control, and keep making the best products, and keep producing world record setting equipment!

Ranks in the WCA

So a while back, I had a post about new events the WCA could add to make the competition experience a little more diverse. Today I want to broaden that subject with the idea of adding ranks to the competition. I know for a fact that CrazyBadCuber did a video on this a very long time ago, so I wanted to talk about his ideas, and then give my opinions on them and my ideas on what might be able to happen.

So CrazyBadCuber’s idea was to have a ranked system based upon your average time in competition. He thought having four divisions, A-D with lower times for each division would be best. While I see his idea here, I think there are a few flaws. One, he says in his video that you are ranked based on the average of your previous competition. The problem I have with this that what if you have never been at a competition before, or had an average of a DNF? Are you instantly put in the bottom, D, division? Another problem I had was his method for moving up a rank. He said that you started in whatever level you were at from your average from the last competition, and that if you wanted, you could go for a faster average and try to move up a division, but if you did, you would be not be able to come down a ranking ever again. But what if you have a lucky average, like I did on 2x2 at my last competition? Am I instantly in the big leagues and can never go back?

I have a few proposed solutions to these problems, plus a couple extra tidbits to make the process better. To start with where you get ranked because of your last competition, just simply do a mean of 3 solves at the start of the comp, for all the competitors who are new. This will give them practice in competing and determine their ranking. To solve the other issue of lucky averages, I think if you had time, you could just have everyone do a mean of 3 for that competition, to get a baseline for their rank. Then they can compete from there, like normal. Of course that is a lot of extra time, so one thing you could do is have a sign up for the division you would like to be put in, and completely exclude time. Instead, focus on the status of the division and the prize each division winner gets. Make it somehow clear that if you compete in the top class with a 20 second average, you are still “better” than the guy who has a 10 second average, but chose class 2 because he wanted to win. Enforce this by making the prizes decrease dramatically for each division, so there is more incentive to move up a rank.

I feel like rankings in the WCA would be very difficult, and even though I haven’t yet expressed this, I don’t think they are the best idea, because you make people feel like winners who haven’t done the work. However, I wanted to share how it could be done, and maybe if some other cubers give their own input, these rankings could be a very fun addition in the future!

CrazyBadCuber's video on this subject.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZtfo4ZS6CU

Competition Success!

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know that I recently competed in a cubing competition, and I can honestly say, that it was a complete success! I competed in Rubik’s Cube, 2x2 and Pyraminx, and did very well for myself in all 3.

                To start, in round one I placed 14th in 2x2 with a low 6 second average. While not the most amazing time for those here who are proficient in 2x2, but I rarely practice it and was quite happy to have such a reasonable time. This was also very fun because 14th place got me into round two, which was an amazing first for me. In all three of my competitions I had never made even close to a second round, and it felt amazing to be able to continue the fun and keep competing. Unfortunately, I got a little bit nervous and dropped back to last in the round, finishing the day with a high 8 second average and 20th place. I do have to comment though; my scrambles in the first round of competition were insanely easy, with a few OLL skips and very easy first layers. I cannot say the same for my second round, which had less luck on what I received to solve.

                I can’t use the same excuse for 3x3 unfortunately. I had very reasonable and realistic solves, and I just decided I was going to get really nervous and do very poorly. In the mix of my solves I had a 25 v second, a 24 second, and a 22 second, which are very bad, especially when you look at the 16 average I had had that morning. However, it did turn out alright, also in the mix of my solves I had a 16 and a 15.9. which by far are my best solves in competition to date. Unfortunately, the high 24 second solve kept me out of round 2, but I  am still very happy because a major goal for me was to get a sub 20 solve and I had more than one, so I am content.

                Pyraminx was probably the best event I competed in. For my first time in competing, I earned my personal best average time of 9.92 which was good enough to barely land me in the top 10, I finished in 9^th place. This made me so happy because as it was the first time I had ever competed in the event and I did better than any other event , however a small portion of this is due to the fact that only a small number of people compete in Pyraminx.

                Overall I am overjoyed with my success in this competition. I got decent or great ranks in ever event I competed in, got an official sub 20 solve for 3x3, and most of all I managed to learn all the PLL’s for the competition, which was another major goal I had strived for. I’m so happy and anxious to compete again!

My Last Post (For A While)

So for you who don’t know, this blog is an assignment for the AP Lang class I am taking at my school. I have done it now for about month and a half and I have really enjoyed it, but as finals draw near for my classes, I am starting to become loaded with work and the blogging is not required for the rest of the term, I am going to take a brief hiatus from posting things. So I wanted to make my last post for a while pretty special and talk about my entire timeline when it comes to cubing.

It started when I was in 7^th grade, long ago, and a Rubik’s cube was just a little key chain sitting in my house, unsolved for years. Some of the more “popular” kids came to school with Rubik’s cubes, teaching kids how to solve them and going for the best times. When I saw this, I instantly wanted to try it, so I took the little keychain cube I had and brought it to school. I tried to solve it for what must have been only 2 days, but is was hooked. I broke out what little money I had stored up and bought myself a fresh new Rubik’s cube, and using the instructions, had it solved within an hour. But this wasn’t enough for me, I wanted to be the best I could be, so I memorized the beginner’s method over about a 2 day span. Soon I was racing against one of my friends, struggling to get that extra second over him. We went back and forth for a while, and then it just fell away. I’m not sure who ever had the fastest time, but soon it didn’t matter. We went on to different things. However, I didn’t stop loving the idea of solving puzzles. Soon I had bought myself a 4 dollars Lanlan 2x2 from the internet, and was spending all my cubing time on that. I watched YouTube videos on how to get better and tried very hard. It interested me so much I put down my Rubik’s cube for 2 years, because a 3x3 just took too long to solve when I could do a 2x2 in 15 seconds.

Fast forward to my Sophomore year in high school. I have been watching YouTube videos on cubing for a year now, and have a 4 second best on my 2x2 Zanchi. Then, I decide to pick up my old Rubik’s cube again, which is now beat up and scratched all over, from months of use and years of inactivity. My first solve I do in 2 years rounds out to a minute and 30 seconds. Not bad, but I try and do better, and soon have a one minute and 10 second solve, which on a regular Rubik’s cube is not half bad at all. But I  know I need to move on up, so I buy my first speedcube, the infamous stickerless Zanchi. I worked hard, and got down to 41 seconds on the beginner method, but I was just beginning on my path. Soon I had mastered basic F2L and lost another 8 seconds. Then the fateful day you all know of if you have read my blog. I went on vacation to New York, then spent the next two weeks learning at least 10 algs and dropping 10 seconds and having my first sub 20 on the flight home.

         

          Finally I end here, averaging about 19 seconds and hopefully getting better. I hope my little story inspires you like it does for me, to keep going along my journey. So until the next post, enjoy Thanksgiving and practice hard!

More Mods and Custom Puzzles

Hello everyone! Today I wanted to share just a few more of the amazing mods and custom puzzles that have graced my presence in the brief time I have been a cuber.

To start, I really have to talk about the classic Ghost cube series. This awesome 3x3 shape mod just enthralls me, and even though I do not own one, it is such an amazing Idea I couldn’t prevent it from making the list. In addition to the 3x3, many other sized versions have been made, many of which seem so difficult I get frustrated just looking at them. One of my favorite bits about this series of cubes is the fact no colors are involved to make it easier, hence the term, Ghost cube. I love the idea of giving such a challenge and it makes me wonder where inventors of these cubes could take it. For instance, a crazy modification of the Ghost cube itself is the wacky Virust cube. I first saw this cube on Crazy Bad Cuber’s channel, and it instantly amused me. It is an OCD nightmare wrapped into a nice cube shape. The Ghost cubes were hard enough to solve, but then you add distracting sticker combinations to the mix? I might almost consider the creator an evil genius, because it looks like an intense and difficult piece of work.

Next on my continuing list of mods and custom puzzles is the Gear cube series. I have talked about this series of puzzles numerous times throughout my blog, but this is because I absolutely love how simple but amazing it is. The inventor took a normal 3x3 mechanism, made some slight adjustments, then added gears. It was probably difficult at first, but it worked out so well and the gear series now consists of so many puzzles I’m not bothering to research the number. But beyond just their simplicity, the cubes are some of the best turning puzzles I have ever seen, which includes some 3x3’s. I can’t be sure for the exact reason as to why this is, but, especially with the gear ball, the turning is extraordinary! And I haven’t even mentioned the crazy way the gears look as they turn. They are almost mesmerizing the way they twist as you solve. It makes for a very cool experience, and I just love the series.

And finally on my continued list of custom puzzles and modifications is one of my favorite puzzles of all time, the amazing Rex cube! I love this cube, because it was the first corner axis turning cube I had ever seen. It was so novel and unique I just fell in love and have loved it ever since. But I do want to give a special mention to a lot of other corner turning cubes. Even after being seasoned as a cuber I still love the unique idea of corner turners and I think they will always hold a special place in my heart.

My Terrible Megaminx

I have had this terrible Megaminx in my collection since almost the beginning of my cubing life. And in that time, I have never hated of despised anything more. It is clearly an off brand puzzle, and whatever brand it came from clearly spent no time trying to improve their work to make a better product. To start, it has tiles which frankly, don’t bother me, except for the fact that they are held onto by about one cubic millimeter of glue each which means Trying to put a tile back on without glue is actually impossible, and as for gluing it, there are no contact areas. Looking at the bottom of the tile you can see two faint lines of glue that connect the top edge of it to the corresponding piece. This is absolutely awful, because the only contact point the tile makes with pieces are on the edge, and so regluing will be messy.

Another frustrating piece of this terrible Megaminx is the clicking system. There are MASSIVE notches in the pieces that create a very awful turning, very slow puzzle, with absolutely no finger tricking of any kind. In addition to this, the mechanism is not very well mad, so pieces can wiggle upon turning. This coupled with the abysmal corner cutting, as the puzzle has no corners previously cut as 3x3’s do, makes for the worst moving and solving experience I have ever had with a puzzle.

So now the simple question, what brand is this puzzle? I actually have no idea, to tell the truth. I have looked at videos comparing brands, with no avail. No, it isn’t a QJ, although I hear that one is a close second. I know it is too disgusting to be a Dayan, and so I am stuck. What can I brand this Megaminx that has wronged me so badly? I can’t honestly say.

Modifications and Custom Puzzles

One thing I love seeing so much is a brand new idea being put into reality. Things like hand mods and custom puzzles are just so cool to me, because they take an idea of something someone thought would be cool, and put it into action. And I’m constantly amazed because these mods and puzzles just keep coming, with no stop. But right now, I want to look at a few of my favorites.

                The first big one I love is the Mix-up Cube. For those of you unaware, this puzzle moves like a regular 3x3, except it includes the ability to move a middle slice 45 degrees, and then the corners switch with the center pieces. Now while I don’t have this puzzle, it amazes me because it turns on a level that increases the difficulty of the already super hard 3x3. In addition, it just amazes me that a mechanism can support this. I would love to look at a Mix-up cube just for the insides, as I’m sure it would be complicated but easy enough to be economical.

                The next awesome puzzle I love is actually a series of puzzles. Basic cuboids. While not so super amazing all by themselves, it’s so cool to watch designers like Traiphum put together massive cuboids that shouldn’t exist. Things like the 10x10x8 are so awesome, and I just marvel at the collassalness. But the real amazing thing for me is the small but wide cuboids. Things like the 2x5x5, which seem to be a physical impossibility. Imagine how close someone would have to work to be able to construct something like that. Pieces would have to reach to the edge of their long, fragile, sticks just to be attached. And yet somehow, these puzzles are made with relative ease and they work just as well as many other custom mods.

                Finally on this list, are simple mods that I enjoy for just that, their simplicity. For instance, Crazy Bad Cuber showed a 248 mod, where he basically just glued parts of an 8x8 together. While the building of the mod may not be overly difficult, the solving definitely is. The puzzle bandages on so many different levels it’s hard to believe you can still turn it. It appears to be impossible at first glance, but you could never tell while making it, as it is as simple as gluing pieces together.

                This is just a small list of puzzles; I will be out with another soon. Pictures for each puzzle are below, in respective order.

The Journey On Up?

Today I want to self-reflect a little bit as I begin to examine my future in cubing. If you have read any previous posts, you know that I will soon be going to a competition, and that a reasonable goal for me is to know all the PLLs by the time I get there. But this raises a very large question in my mind, what do I do after that? The obvious and simple answer is to learn OLL and other advanced bits to add to my CFOP abilities, but that is a commitment of a large amount of time to learn it all. 50 Algorithms for basic OLL, plus probably a few tricks of the trade here and there, just to master the CFOP basics. I look at it, and wonder how I will ever get done with it all. Truth be told, my practice has stalled now that school and its never ending commitments have begun. I want to keep going, but I can’t seem to find a solid chunk of time in which to do so. Which leaves the question, do I stay a mediocre cuber by our intense standards, or do I try to hack my way through the endless stream of algorithms to come? I hope the answer will make itself clearer as I edge closer to my competition.

Moyu 6x6!

Moyu has announced their own 6x6, entitled the Aoshi!! I am super excited for Moyu doing this, because they are getting into all the WCA puzzles that they previously hadn’t been into. I hope the 6x6 holds up to the standards they previously set with the right of what I affectionately call, the “Ao” series. They have done such a great job so far, with the 3x3 and 4x4 being absolutely amazing, and the 5x5 and 7x7 holding their own in a smaller market of cubes. And I do think it will be well accepted, because 6x6 is one of the categories with the lowest number of cubes to choose from, and has quite a few issues with most cubes. I really expect and hope that Moyu has looked into these and has fixed many issues the other 6x6’s have. But overall, I just want to give Moyu a thank you. Whether they know it or not (probably not) they took my advice, and I think they will have good control of the WCA puzzles, at least for a while, until another company steps up their game.

Competition confirmed!!

Hey guys! As you might have read in the title, it is confirmed! I am going to a competition in about a month! Now for sake of privacy, I won’t be sharing which competition I am going to, but I wanted to give some pointers on competing and what you might want to do before hand to improve your spot in competition.

          To start, trust your gear. This is the same advice that Noah Arthurs gave in one of his videos on a similar topic, but I want to reiterate some key ideas. No matter the cube you use, it’s important that you make sure you feel confident that it will perform the way you need it to. Trusting your cube is a big deal, and it’s one thing I have a huge problem with. Also, make sure your cubes are well tensioned, lubed, stickered, and otherwise prepped so you can make sure you know your cube is on its game. In addition to bringing your main speedcubes, also include a backup for big events like 2x2 and 3x3, because if your main breaks or fails on some level, you need to have something to solve on for the rest of the competition.

          Another great idea is to set goals for yourself a month or two before the competition, and practice and strive to reach the goal. Of course, the goal has to be reasonable, but if you find an appropriate level of difficulty, the goal can really push you to perform. For me, the goal I have set for the competition is a 20 second average, with an 18 second single. Now this is very attainable for me at home, but I want to make sure I can nail it in a competition. If you don’t like to time yourself at home, or just don’t think you will be able to perform well under the pressure of a competition, instead, set goals about your algorithm or method process. For instance, I might choose to set a goal of knowing all the PLL’s by this competition. Considering I only have 3 more to learn (4 if you count me wanting to switch on of my G-perms) my goal seems very easily reached. If you are not a great memorizer, your goals can be a bit more conservative, but one main idea to remember is that you should set goals that will challenge you. Don’t strive for the minimum, practice and put in some effort.

          Finally, on the day of the competition, I recommend a warm up strategy. Simply start with slow turns when you wake up. Don’t do really fast, complicated, or hard stuff, especially not at first, save that for later. As you continue through the day, make sure you keep your hands warm. A good way to do this is to always have a cube in hand, and be doing basic, slow solves. You want to be ready to go when the time to compete comes, but make sure you don’t wear out your hands in the process. Also, when the time comes, you will have to hand over your main cube for scrambling. This might take a bit, and is when your backup cube will be useful. At this stage, right before you compete, it is fine to do fast solves on you backup to not only keep your hands warm, but allow you to build up some speed for our solve. However, the rule of not wearing your fingers out still applies here.

          Take or leave these tips, but I think they are quite helpful and are very useful when a competition rolls around. I will be updating you guys with blogs about my cubing progress and how my goals are going, but this is it for now. 

Algorithms

 Imagine a world where we would have to create all our own algorithms for our own cubing needs. Now stop imagining the world because it sounds terrible! We use algorithms for every solve we do, they are a very important part of it and we really couldn’t solve without them. But just think about every algorithm, and how long the must take to make.

                I have no clue how most people create algs, I haven’t personally done much with them, but I bet it starts with them have a case that needs solving. From there, they experiment with certain moves, and use things like sledgehammer and parts from other algs to create their newest invention. But I think that is just the beginning. I want you to try the J-perm, and if you don’t know it, re-read this post when you do. The J-perm is one of my favorites because it flows really well in my hands, is very comfortable with no need for extra finger tricks, and is incredibly fast. No imagine the time it must have taken to figure out this perfect set of moves. I’m almost positive that there are ways that require many less moves to do something like a J-perm. That’s not what I find so cool. I think the sweetest part is that someone can find a set of moves that flow so well together that it can become an incredibly fast and fluent algorithm.

          And the fact is, someone does this for every algorithm! I think that is just insane. So if you ever meet someone who has created algorithms, be sure to ask them their process, and thank them for making your life a whole lot easier.

Aolong V2- A New Opinion

So I have been messing around with the Aolong V2 recently and I must say it’s amazing. I don’t know what changed, whether I just got used to the feeling, or did enough solves to grind out any previous problem, but the cube is much better now. It turns well and is so stable. I am able to keep it on loose tensions and have no lockups at all. The small feeling of the cubies has completely gone away and I can’t find anything wrong with it to tell. It is so good in fact, that I annihilated my previous best average at 19 seconds with a new best at 16.86! In addition, I also got a 13.75 no lucky solve, which is very close to my personal best. This cube has also improved my overall average by about a second and it continues to perform astonishingly well.

                 Issues with this cube are, as I said before, nonexistent. This V2 is the new plastic version, so I don’t have the issues that many cubers had with the other plastic. Corner twisting, as I have said before, doesn’t happen to me so I can’t really attest to that, but from what I hear in other reviews, this is fixed too. The only sort of “problem” I have is the tensioning. While it is great performing, the feel isn’t perfectly what I want but I am not great at tensioning and I fear if I try to change it from its current state, it will feel very bad. This won’t be an issue for most though as I assume a lot of cubers are much better at finding the perfect feel for their puzzle than me.

                As an overall grade, I want to raise this cube to an 8.5 out of 10. It has given me many new records and I have great hopes for it in the future, but until I can find some more comfortable tensions, I can’t raise it any higher. However, expect another blog at some point with the progress of this cube, because I can see huge potential in it yet, and can’t wait to sort it all out! 

Cubing in Public

Every time I pull out a cube in public, an aura of amazement instantly surrounds me. I’m sure you know the feeling, as you start turning, slowly a puzzled look enters here face and they lose comprehension of the entire world. Then, they come forward, and speak words that to us sound about as uneducated as a first grader trying to talk about math.

“Yeah I know a guy that can do one of those!” or the ever so annoying “I just peel the stickers off.” These comments might seem funny or important to the person first seeing someone solve a Rubik’s cube in 20 seconds, but to someone who has done this for a while, I can say these annoy me greatly. And those are just a few examples. I love silently laughing at people who say that their friend can do a 3x3-5x5 in a minute. Yeah, because your friend shatters every speedcubing world record in those categories on a regular basis. It’s actually kind of funny to listen to these preposterous claims of those trying not to feel inferior.

But this isn't the only surreal thing that occurs in the magical world of cubing in public. Never forget the people inquiring how you solve it so fast, implying that you can take one alg and solve it in 5 seconds without trouble. It makes me laugh thinking that the general consensus is that speed equals simplicity. Let me inform any none cuber reading this that speed takes lots of work. One algorithm, or even only one set of “patterns” is never enough for anyone fast. To say so is actually kind of insulting to me, and I assume it is for others as well.

But there are positives to cubing in public too. It is a moral boost to have people rave over your solving abilities, even if they are less than par by speedcuber standards. Plus, even when nobody is around, cubing is just great for passing time. And all these examples are just my personal experiences; imagine what someone like Anthony Brooks had to deal with. He met hundreds of people every day at the Liberty Science center, and had to hear everything I have mentioned PLUS MORE. I have to respect something like that. It may be cool to be a professional cuber and just solve all day long, but I would think this would be a serious down fall. However, I love cubing enough to deal with all of it, and I think that is the main idea.

Moyu Pyraminx!

Moyu did it! Finally they have announced and are about to release their own take on the Pyraminx! I’m very excited to try it out and I can’t wait to give a review on it. And from the looks of the puzzle, and my experience with moyu, I can bet this Pyraminx will be top notch. But even before it comes out, I do want to commend Moyu on their expanding to new fields of the speedcubing competition.  The fact that they have now released almost every puzzle used in competition shows how serious they are at providing the best puzzles possible, and while things like Pyraminx and Skewb are kind of a one puzzle deal, where massive improvements or multiple different variations from the same company are unlikely, I still trust Moyu for their 3x3’s and other main speedcubes, and hope this is a sign the they will not only diversify their products, but continue doing their  already great work.

How to Get Better-Speedcubing

No matter the sport, no matter who is playing, getting better and being the best is a huge part of being a part of the whole experience. But especially in the amazing competition of speedcubing, getting better is very hard. So for any those who might find it applicable, I’m going to give my short list on how to get better at speedcubing. Now first you should know that I average around 20 seconds, so most of this will only be useful if you average higher than that.

So for a big idea, learn your method. For me, the method of choice is CFOP. Therefore, this is the method I will be talking about, and if you know Petrus or ZZ, you are going to have to look elsewhere. Now when I say learn your method, I don’t refer to the algorithms directly. Yes, in the long run, algs are going to be necessary for any speedcuber, but for now, I don’t even know every PLL, and still do pretty well, so I can guarantee it isn’t required at first. The main idea behind learning your method is to know where you are going next. It should be second nature to transition from F2L to OLL or from OLL to PLL. The thing to make sure is that if someone asked you to solve a cube, you would be able to, using your chosen method, without too much thought. This is very difficult for some, I understand, so let me give some simple ideas.

First, learn F2L intuitively. This may be very hard to grasp, but believe me; it will save you loads of time later, and helps you understand how the cube moves much better. Add to this a more planned out cross. These two items, while they don’t include algorithms, are very beneficial, because if you can move the cube to solve these in your own way, it helps develop your style and shows you that you are in control of the cube, it’s not just a bunch of algorithms running the show.

Second, one common misconception is that you have to learn everything at once. I did step one a long time before I learned two look OLL and PLL. I still used the beginner method for the entire last layer. However, I laid the support for it early by allowing myself to learn a more advanced cross strategy and F2L, which made the transition to two look a whole lot easier.

Lastly, get inspired. I went on a vacation, and met Anthony Brooks at the Liberty Science center over the summer. I was so inspired watching him solve a cube in 8 seconds flat that I spent the rest of my vacation learning algorithms and practicing. In total, I learned about 15 algs and dropped 10 seconds in two weeks. Yes, this seems like a lot of work and probably sounds miserable, but I was having the greatest time and I just kept going from there. Some people won’t tell you this when they explain how to get better, but one of the biggest things you can do, is just to have fun with it. Enjoy the practice; enjoy having fun solving your cube. Feliks Zemdegs gave a seminar on speedcubing, and he said practice is what you have to do to get better. But he also said that if you aren’t having fun at it, or you are just forcing yourself to practice, then there is no reason to do it at all.

In the end, you can follow every piece of advice I give, or another blogger or Youtuber gives, but all that really matters is you  discovering and being confident in your own cubing style, and learning how to master one of the world’s greatest puzzles.

Shengshou Pyraminx

This is the review on the amazing Shengshou Pyraminx! I have to say, this puzzle is making me love the idea of the of competing in Pyraminx, because it’s just such a great puzzle. Now I must say, I’m not a Pyraminx expert by any means, I just bought this puzzle 2 months ago, but I can say that it is one of the best turning puzzles out of the box I have seen.

                Immediately when you open it up, you can feel how smooth and controlled it feels. Of course, it has the standard ball bearing mechanism that allows for a proper turning and placement when doing so, but as it turns, it is very fluid with no real catches or issues. For this reason, I have not lube or tensioned this puzzle at all, and it still works perfectly for my solves. This puzzle is a very easy one, that is for sure, but I can say that the lack of difficulty isn’t a concern. I still have a lot of fun solving it, and I average about 16 seconds on it.

           Over all, I can say only good things about this puzzle. If you like YouTube reviews on puzzles, check out TehCubeDude’s video about this puzzle and his comparison to the other Pyraminx’s on the market. So final grade, 8 out of 10, only because I don’t have enough knowledge on Pyraminx to definitively say it’s perfect, but I do recommend buying this puzzle. If you want to purchase it, I prefer using TheCubicle.us, I picked it up there for about  10 dollars.

New WCA event suggestions

A while back I had a blog post about having more competitions, in which I talked about adding new/ different events. In this post I would like to expand on that.

                To start, I feel like some puzzles are becoming too easy as new methods are created, and are almost becoming redundant. Things like 2x2, pyraminx, and skewb are reaching their limits as far as world records. While I love having these events, the fact that they only take a few seconds to solve means that more events could be added and not add a whole lot of time to the schedule. One main puzzle I really want to see is a floppy cube added, just for a little fun. Yes, I understand it would probably have a world record of .5 seconds of something crazy like that, but it would be all in the interest of fun, not for true competition. Another idea for a regular event would be the 8x8. This would be a longer puzzle to speedsolve, but I think that the best could probably do it in about 5 minutes.

                But I don’t only think single puzzles should be added. Group events could be added as well. Maybe a national team relay at big competitions for 3x3. Have 4 people for the same country each solve a 3x3 then slap the next person’s hand, until all 4 are done. This would be a whole other level of competition, as you would have to have 4 great cubers, instead of only one. In addition, you could have variations of the relay, like a 2 person one, or maybe a 4 person relay on 4x4. Another great multi-person event idea is a best “shot” kind of competition. 4 cubers do a solve, and the best solve of all 4 is used as the actual time. All 4 do 5 solves, and the best 5 of these 20 create the average for the group.

                Finally, I feel like we need a multiple cube event. Making something like a 2x2-4x4 relay events would add a whole new level of challenge, as new strategies would have to be created to solve in the best order and how to inspect all of them in the best way.  Also you could have the cubing “marathon” which is doing every speed event all at once, or for a simpler version, just the 2x2-7x7. I feel like this would measure the very best of the best, and could be used as the newest standard of achievement.

                But overall, I just would like a little variety, I feel as though the WCA could use just a little spicing up.

My Favorite Puzzle?

I’m not a huge puzzle collector, as I don’t have a large amount of money to spend on a lot of puzzles. However, I do have a few puzzles and I have one I really enjoy. The Rex Cube.

This puzzle is one of my favorites, because it is a corner turner, which is a type of puzzle I have never had before. I really love the solving of the puzzle because it isn’t a challenge of my algorithm memory, and it isn’t so intuitive that I have to spend all my life wrapping my mind around how it turns. I actually have even done speed solves on it, which you can’t do on most puzzles. My best time is 2:48 (see if you can beat it.) But overall, I just love solving the Rex cube and it just makes the time fly when I’m bored and just need something to do.

I imagine later my preference on my favorite puzzle will change because as I collect more of them, and as I age ever on word, I’m sure that will change. But for now, I highly recommend the Rex cube and hope you will take a look at it the next time you are out cube shopping!

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQFSBwfuX5U953m3b9QC3gS8wmzudDmgRLn2Lb8dy-BuvH__ANDPA

Money in Cubing

This is just my ideas on the growth of competitions and where we go from here. Some people would want to have more money involved in this sport of speedcubing. Others would like to have it be a world televised event, similar to FIFA. I personally, both are not good ideas at all, especially the first.

 My main reason is the idea of community that occurs in various competitions. At my last competition, the main room was so full I had no choice but to take an empty seat in the corner of the room, that a group of people was close to. I came up, introduced myself, and 5 minutes later I have sold a cube, and made more friends than you can count on one hand. Now it may sound childish, the idea of community and making friends, but having fun is what this sport is based around. If the grand prize at worlds in 2013 was 100,000 dollars instead of 2000, there would be a lot more competition and a lot less friendship and fun. Mats Valk and Feliks Zemdegs actually hang out before competitions, because they are competing together and have gotten to know one another over the years. Now add the 100,000 dollars back in. All of a sudden they hate each other when one gets second place, because they lost all that money. This would just make the sport more cutthroat and a lot less fun.

The idea of being televised just doesn’t sound good for the reason that everyone would be worried about appearing on camera, and not on their solve or enjoying the community of the event. In a way, I think that is just it, the community makes cubing. If you don’t have the tables of people puzzling together, you don’t have a competition. Remember that when you want more money next time you win a competition.

Fangshi Shuang Ren 54.6 Illusion Cube

Today, my review on the Fangshi Shuang Ren 54.6 mm Illusion cube. Not the most controversial puzzle, and it wasn't the hugest deal when it came out, but this puzzle still holds a special place in my heart.

To start off, I love this puzzle for a plethora of reasons, starting with the fact that it was my main for quite a while. The way it moves makes me love it every time I pick it up. The scratchy feeling is amazing and it is one of the best cubes I have ever turned. Another great thing about the cube is the speed is perfect for a 20 second solver. When I first bought this cube, I was a high 30 second average, so for about two months I really didn’t like the cube, but when I got faster, and started to improve, I grew right into this cube, and it is still one of my favorites. Maybe it’s the scratchiness, but even though the speed is good, when I’m just doing random turns, it seems too fast, but then I actually solve it, and it is perfectly controllable.

                My biggest problem with this cube is the corner cutting and the lock ups. While the corner cutting is decent, it is by no means amazing, and when added to my tight tensions, it becomes quite a task to handle. Fortunately it is not a huge problem on most of the solve; only hurting the occasional F2L or PLL move.

          One issue some people might have is the weird coloring of this cube. You can order it with black corners and white edges or vice versa and it looks really unusual. This makes look ahead very hard for some people, but I spent a good deal of time getting used to it and its quite easy once you adjust. The main part is just spending the time to change in the first place.

          Overall, This cube is great. I would easily rank it 8 out of 10. It has gotten me more PB’s than any other cube I own and is high performance, however, I can’t recommend this cube to most below 15 second solvers, only for the reason that its size and corner cutting prevent it from being a top level speedcube. However, for any collection this is great and highly recommended.

Corner Twists

This is a topic that pisses some people off, for obvious reasons. Having a super-fast solve with no problems, one that is going to be a personal best in competition, the on your last turn you twist a corner and DNF. Or half way through your F2L you twist a corner and have to stop later to fix it, ruining a time completely. Even for me, I rarely get corner twists but I hate when I do and it just gets in the way. And we complain about it like it’s bad, Feliks Zemdegs lost a world record to a corner twist, which would just be awful beyond belief. There are many different opinions, and I want to look at them and explain my thoughts and ideas on the issue.

            The first idea some people have had is that a solved cube with a corner twist should be considered just a solved cube or maybe a plus 2 or another penalty simply called corner twist. There is an issue with that idea that JRcuber brought up in one of his videos that I believe explains why this doesn't work pretty well. He said that people would intentionally twist a corner to improve F2L cases. While I’m not sure how viable this would be in a speed solve, I can say that this sounds like grade A cheating, and I think it would ruin the sport.

            My main concern with the idea of allowing corner twists is that every sport has its challenges. In track, you can’t trip or in swimming, you can’t swallow a bunch of water. If you do, you lose the race. In cubing, you can’t corner twist, because it’s the challenge. You have to be able to completely solve the cube, with all the problems that arise from trying to do so. That is one reason that this sport is so difficult, because it’s not just the memorizing, it’s the look ahead, and finding the right cube, and dealing with corner twists.

            The final reason that corner twists should still be a DNF is because of the simple idea that the cube must be solved when you are done. If you are leading a race, then trip, and don’t even finish the event, no one is going to say you won. That isn't how it works. You can’t have a speed solving competition if the cube isn't solved. This is the reason why I think corner twists should be DNF’s. The question is, does Feliks agree with me after that 5.33 fail? I hope that is your first question is you meet him.

Competition+Progress!

Hey guys, this is a post I have wanted to do since I started this blog. I wanted to show my progression of my solving abilities on 3x3 as I went along. I’m not sure if I can post videos on a blog, I don’t know if the website will allow it, but I still want to show how I’m progressing and what I am doing to improve my speedcubing. And I think I have a great opportunity, as there is a chance I will be going to a competition in about 2 months, and I’m going to practice an extra hard for a while, and once I am nearer to the competition, I will go over my progress.

                So basically my current level is annoyingly close to sub 20. I can get a sub 20 almost whenever, but some days I’m just off my game and can’t get any sub 20’s at all. I think the part I need to work the most on is my look ahead, which I know I can improve, I just have to learn how to slow down. Hopefully, by my next blog on progression I will be a very solid sub 20, but that’s just a little bit of practice away!

Moyu Aolong V2 Review

Today I have another review for you guys, this time, on the highly coveted Moyu Aolong V2. This cube is the new glossy plastic version, and I won’t be coming out with a review on the other plastic V2, because I think it’s a waste of time and money. If you think otherwise, please comment below. The cube has some small changes to make the cube more stable with less corner twists. My opinions are varied, but you can read that below.

            To start, this cube arrived out of the box fast. I mean almost uncontrollably so. It was pretty crazy, but you could tell it was easily fixed, since the tensions were about as loose as you could go. I noticed one big thing that made me question even continuing a solve on the cube. Its corner pieces had very sharp corners on the moving sides (the ones not used for corner cutting, but on the same line.) These made the cube feel smaller than its 57mm size and miserable to solve. I have plans right now to sand those down to try and fix the issue.

             As for stability and corner twists, the two main problems of the V1? I can definitely that there is improvement. The stability, on the extremely loose tensions, was about the same on a V1 Aolong with medium tight ones. This is a huge improvement and bodes very well for it becoming my main, if I can fix those edges. As for corner twists, I mentioned in a previous blog how I don’t get twists, nearly ever, and so I can’t attest to these, but I can say that the stability bodes well for better corner twists and control.

            Overall, I give this cube 7 out of 10.  It is a good cube, with its new found stability a great bonus, and I think many will like it. The speed allows for medium to fast cubers to be able to handle it well. I hope to be able to enjoy it as well; I just have to fix the issues the sharp corner bits produce. But I definitely say buy this cube, especially if the V1 was good, but you want something with small differences.

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Traiphum Puzzles

This is just a simple post asking the question, should I get Traiphum's puzzles? According to Crazy Bad Cuber I should; he raves about Traiphum in almost every episode. My problem is the cost of Traiphum's work. Yes, I understand how high quality his puzzles are, but the price is just as high. Puzzles by Traiphum cost 3 times or more what their mass produced equals cost. And his custom puzzles that aren't mass produced are even more expensive than that. So if you have Traiphum's work, comment telling me what I should get, or even if I should get anything. Thanks!

Knock-offs: The Good and the Bad

Hey guys, today I wanted to weigh in on a topic that seems to be constantly debated and discussed, the topic of knock-offs. It is actually annoying to hear about it. But of course, I’m going to talk about it anyway. Like many other controversial issues, my feelings are very neutral. I think knock-off cubes are bad for basically only one reason. They steal somebody else’s ideas. I think that is awful because the original designer spent a lot of time, energy and knowledge about how cubes work to put it together, and the person that steals it uses little effort and gets it all for free.

            However, there are so good things that come from this. First of all, some people make slight adjustments to previous cubes to improve them. I understand that it isn’t a complete knock-off when people do it, but I feel like it still counts. A great example is the Moyu Aolong. If you look at the pieces of the Maru CX3 below (bottom) and the Aolong (top) u can see how amazingly similar the pieces look. Moyu did change the Aolong just a tiny bit, to make it faster with better corner cutting, but I am sure we can all agree it is at its basic level, a knock-off. However, I don’t think any of us would call it bad that the Aolong is like this, because its performance has proven to be effective for some of the best speedcubers in the world. For this reason, I have to accept some knock-offs as good things anyway, because they increase the cubing community and make it easier for us to have a selection of cubes.

            Lastly, a good reason to accept knock-offs is because almost all cubes are pretty much knock-offs of the original Rubik’s cube. While major changes have been made to most speedcubes, I just had to remind everyone that the roots of our community are basically based on knock-offs. So final opinion, Knock-offs are good, but leave a nasty taste in your mouth. That’s the only way I can describe it.

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Cyoubx View on 3x3

Hi guys, If you spend any time on the YouTube cubing scene, then you will probably heard of the channel called Cyoubx. If not, I definitely recommend it. His channel is great quality and he is a very good speedcuber as well. But on to today’s topic, which involves something he talks about on this channel a lot. Cyoubx repeatedly discusses the idea of not changing your style for a cube, instead, you should try to find a cube that works well with your style, and that is perfect for how you turn. I think this is a great idea, but in practice, is hard to actually use realistically.

                Let’s start with the good of this idea. My turning style is very unique, it somehow manages to cut up every sticker on my puzzle, no matter how high quality (I use cubicle stickers.) In addition, I rarely get corner twists. And I mean almost never. It just isn’t an issue with how I turn. This makes something like the Aolong a great cube for me, because I don’t get hurt by the biggest issue of the puzzle. And yes, I mean the V1, I have little issue with it. However, I can’t deal with cubes that have lock-ups. I just can’t do them, I don’t know why, my style just won’t let me. For this reason, cubes like the Zanchi just don’t work for me. This is why this idea of finding the cube for you is better, because it allows you to find the right mix, and keep a feel that is great for you. For me this is something with few lock-ups, and usually good corner cutting helps too.

                Now, because of my unique style, very few cubes would have a good feel and optimistic lock up prevention for my style. This is my major gripe with this idea. Unless you are a YouTube cuber, or have another way of testing every puzzle that comes out, you are going to have a very hard time. I know I don’t have an endless supply of money to spend on cubes, and trying to estimate which cubes are going to fit your style is very hard to determine just from simple reviews and unboxings. This means trying to find the perfect cube becomes about 10 times harder. For this reason, I offer this simple compromise. If you have plenty of cash or a testing contract with a cube store, go crazy and find the best cube for your style. Otherwise, you may have to buy the best ones or the ones that seem the closest to your style, and just work on it from there, slightly changing your style, or modding the cube until it fits your preferences.

More Competitions!

                This is just a simple plea to the WCA on the subject of competitions. We need more variety and in general, more of them. It would be cool to see more WCA events added to the roster at competitions, in fact, I may do a post later on that topic, but the major item I would love to see fixed is just an increase of the number of competitions. There is only one competition held in my entire state, and so far in the two competitions I have been to, I have traveled 7 and 9 hours to get to there. While the road trips are fun, the time required to get there reduces the number I can get to. I don’t expect anything huge, I understand the WCA is a world level association; I just want cubing competitions to be more widely available. Maybe when cubing expands a bit more I won’t have this issue. Comment your thoughts on whether this is a problem for you and what you think the WCA should do.